Akhen was too young to remember his parents when they disappeared, so he made his family with his caretakers, the dwarven Longbelt family. This created a rift between him and his biological sister Hespera, who still believed their parents to be alive while he didn't care. This was exaserbated by the fact that he began to channel his internal struggles into anger and agression towards others, getting into trouble frequently in school. When he turned 15, his adopted parents had both died (one of alcoholism and one of depression), causing him to 'wake up' and want to change. He was able to secure a place among some Dwarven monks through his family connections, where he's been training ever since, learning to channel his anger into his punches.